Software requirements

Note: This product includes OpenSSL version 1.1.1k-mf6 (modified).

The setup file will check your machine for whether the prerequisite software is installed and will install any missing prerequisites and the product components.

Requirements for the setup file

  • A 64-bit Windows is required. Visual COBOL installs fully only on 64-bit Windows platforms. On 32-bit Windows, the setup file does not install some of the components. See Issues with the Installation in Known Issues and Restrictions.
  • The setup file installs Visual COBOL and the 64-bit version of Eclipse 4.16 (2020-06).
  • The installation requires Java v11 or later such as AdoptOpenJDK 11. If not found on the machine, the setup file will install AdoptOpenJDK 11 (LTS).
  • Visual COBOL only supports the 64-bit version of Eclipse. You can use the 64-bit Eclipse to create both 32-bit and 64-bit applications.
  • The setup file also installs Microsoft's Visual C++ 2012, 2013 and 2017 Redistributables.

Requirements for running the product

  • Java 11 (64-bit) is required to run the Eclipse IDE. The minimum recommended version is AdoptOpenJDK's OpenJDK 11 (LTS) with HotSpot, which the Windows product installs automatically. You can download AdoptOpenJDK's OpenJDK 11 (LTS) with HotSpot from AdoptOpenJDK's Web site and unpack the archive anywhere on your machine.

  • Visual COBOL requires a 64-bit Java installation to run a 64-bit Eclipse.
  • Microsoft Windows SDK and Microsoft Build Tools: Various actions and operations within your COBOL development environment depend on certain files that Microsoft distributes in the following packages: the Windows SDK package and the Microsoft Build Tools package. See Microsoft Package Dependencies for a full list of actions and operations that require one or both of these packages.

    By default, the product installation installs the latest versions of the Microsoft Windows 10 SDK, and the Microsoft Build Tools for Visual Studio 2017, to their default locations.

    If you need to use any other version of these packages, or use them installed to a non-default location, use the cblms command line utility post-installation to manage this; see Managing the Microsoft Build Tools and Windows SDK Packages for more information.

See Java Support Restrictions in the product help for any considerations when using Eclipse and Java.

License Manager requirements

  • The Micro Focus License Administration tool requires Java to run. It supports Java 1.7 or later.
  • For local servers, you do not need to install the Micro Focus License Administration tool separately, as the setup file installs a new Visual COBOL client and a new licensing server on the same machine.
  • If you have any network license servers, you must update them before you update the client machines.
  • If you are upgrading from Visual COBOL release 2.2 or earlier, uninstall the license manager before installing the product.
You can download the new version of the license server software by following these steps:
  1. Log into the Software Licenses and Downloads (SLD) site at https://sld.microfocus.com/mysoftware/download/downloadCenter.
  2. Select your account and click Downloads.
  3. Select a product and a product version from your orders.
  4. In the list of software downloads, locate the License Manager.
  5. Click Download to download an archive with the installers.
  6. Run the installer suitable for your Operating System to install License Manager on your machine.
Parent topic: System Requirements for Visual COBOL for Eclipse (Windows)
Related information
Hardware Requirements
Operating Systems Supported
Installing Visual COBOL into other instances of Eclipse
Microsoft Package Dependencies
Managing the Microsoft Build Tools and Windows SDK Packages